General Question

Is there any kind of postal service that lets you pre-pay postal charges for an item in case it gets lost?

So say you have an item that you really don’t want to lose, you prepay for postage back to your home address, and include on the item a code or reference number for a prepaid postage service that would allow the finder to just drop it at a post office and know that it would make its way back to you. Does this exist?

Obviously you can do this with prepaid envelopes or a whole bunch of stamps, but is there a more elegant solution?

Great finds, @MissAnthrope. GA. I never heard of this kind of service, but that’s just what a person might want for a cellphone, laptop, business briefcase, bike, etc., or even more personal possessions that could be stolen—a way for it to find you if ever gets get separated from you.

You can get insurance to buy a new “something”
or
you can double wrap it with the item packaged in a return package floating in cushion ( peanuts or air envelopes) inside the sending outside package.
But I would still insure it.
Art Gallerys and Museums have human carriers that take things place to place.